Planktonic foraminiferal depth habitat and δ18O calibrations

Plankton tows conducted in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean allow analysis of the influence of water column structure on planktonic foraminiferal abundance and δ18O composition. Foraminiferal abundance varies by several orders of magnitude across a large gradient in sea surface temperature...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Mortyn, P. Graham|||0000-0002-9473-4309, Charles, Christopher D.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2003
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:25438
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/25438
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1029/2001PA000637
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Micropaleontology
Upper ocean and mixed layer processes
Stable isotopes
Paleoceanography
Descripción
Sumario:Plankton tows conducted in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean allow analysis of the influence of water column structure on planktonic foraminiferal abundance and δ18O composition. Foraminiferal abundance varies by several orders of magnitude across a large gradient in sea surface temperature and other hydrographic features, demonstrating high sensitivity of foraminiferal populations to regional differences in water properties. The depth of maximum abundance for key species such as Globigerina bulloides and Neogloboquadrina pachyderma is not constant from station to station. The pattern suggests that their abundance and shell chemistry are tied to density horizons or other conditions (such as food availability) that become more sharply defined with depth in the northern subantarctic. The consistent observation of Globorotalia inflata and Globoratalia truncatulinoides as relatively deep-dwelling species confirms their utility as indicators of upper thermocline properties. In δ18O all species are observed to be isotopically lighter than predicted from water properties, but the species-specific offset is fairly uniform at all stations. These observations define the utility of multispecies δ18O for reconstructing temperature and density stratification from past surface oceans.